This account is pending registration confirmation. Please click on the link within the confirmation email previously sent you to complete registration.Need a new registration confirmation email? Click here

WASHINGTON,
May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In conjunction with National Youth Traffic Safety Month, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety today released a
study showing a strong association between the number and age of passengers present in-vehicle and the risk of a teen driver dying in a traffic crash.

The report,
"Teen Driver Risk in Relation to Age and Number of Passengers," found that the likelihood of a 16- or 17-year-old driver being killed in a crash, per mile driven, increases with each additional young passenger in the vehicle. Compared to driving with no passengers, a 16- or 17-year-old driver's fatality risk:

Doubles when carrying two passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers)

Quadruples when carrying three or more passengers younger than 21 (and no older passengers)

Conversely, carrying at least one passenger aged 35 or older cuts a teen driver's risk of death by 62 percent, and risk of involvement in any police-reported crash by 46 percent, highlighting the protective influence that parents and other adults have in the car.

The study analyzed data on crashes and the number of miles driven by 16- and 17-year-olds to assess the effect on a teen driver's safety of having passengers in the vehicle. Though widely accepted that passengers pose a risk, recent changes – such as the adoption by most states of varying passenger restrictions for novice teen drivers, and a substantial overall decline in teen traffic fatalities – beg the question of just how significant the risk is.

Despite recent progress, the new report confirms that carrying young passengers (under 21) is still a major risk factor for 16- and 17-year-old drivers.